Friday, September 1, 2017

Our church started a new program this year on Wednesday night. It is called Grace Kids Club. We have never had a Wednesday night program before so this is a BIG thing for us. It is not only to serve the children in our own church but it is also an amazing outreach program as we bring other children in from around on our community with buses and vans.

My first reaction... hesitancy.. I already had a Wednesday night program. I went to Awanas at Sewell Mill Baptist. But I also felt like the Lord was calling me to be part of this ministry. Easy way.. hard way.. I didn't know what to do. In the end, my other friends decided to stay with Awanas so I took the easy route and decided to stay with them too. But the Lord had other plans!! That Awana program moved to Sunday nights no longer making it an option. Okay Lord.. well that makes things loud and clear now doesn't it?

Next I went to an info meeting and our family minister has a heart for letting people serve where their gifts and passions are. So I signed up to be the volunteer coordinator. Yea for emails and spreadsheets. I can so do this!!

Week after week, we looked for volunteers. I sent out dozens of emails and got many responses. But we were still short for volunteers for adults to be small group leaders. When you have a church of only 300 people, it can be hard to find 20 volunteers that will commit to every week especially since this is a new program, many people already have weekly commitments that prevent them from committing to this one.. I get it.. I do.

**You could be a small group leader** Me, Lord? Okay surely this is not coming from the Lord because I don't think I could do that. I have low self confidence and anxiety issues and I have friends and family members that definitely would agree with me that this is not my strong suit.

Conversation with Donna.. "I will be a small group leader if you want me to" (Boy doesn't that sound like I am super excited?!) And Donna tells me "I think you would be a great small group leader" To have someone believe in me like that (besides my husband) was amazing. Someone who believes that (with the Lord's strength of course), I can overcome my anxiety and low self confidence and I *CAN* be the small group leader that God wants me to be.

Because here is the thing and here is why I am so excited about Grace Kids Club and the start of September 13th and all that it holds. Grace Kids Club is not *another* thing that I do each week. It is one of the most IMPORTANT things I do each week. The Lord calls us to shine our light in the darkness and to be frank, I mostly just hang out with a bunch of other light bulbs all week. Grace Kids Club is my chance to SHINE. To SHINE my light of Jesus to children each week that need to hear about Jesus. We see some of these kids only once a year at camp and now we have the AMAZING opportunity to invest in their lives each week. Thank you LORD.. thank you for this opportunity. How could I possibly say no to it? I am so thankful that everything fell into place to where I didn't say no and now I get to be a part of this new ministry and a part of these children's lives. Every Wednesday. Every Week.. Here I am Lord. I am Your hands and feet.